Guitarists Gary Rossington and Allen Collins played with the brilliance of a super-nova, trading guitar riffs and displaying their understanding of and union with their instruments. In fact, every Southern band has problems in Boston,” Nevertheless, Lynyrd Skynyrd usually play to sold-out audiences. Because radio stations don’t play their albums, no one understands the band. Though their audiences are always more than receptive, their records have not sold well in the Boston area. Ron Eckerman, Skynyrd’s road manager, confided that Van Zant’s voice was “raspy from touring”, but Ronnie has undergone surgery for a torn vocal cord and still has throat problems. His voice was weak at times, but he did his best to hide his recurring throat problems that may eventually end his singing career with the band. This brought them in front of large audiences who heard their rock spiced with “down home” flavor as performed by several talented musicians.Īs Skynyrd came on stage, a fight in the audience was quelled when singer Ronnie Van Zant, his southern drawl evident said, “You’ll can fight if you want to, but don’t fuss.” Ronnie proudly displayed his half-beard and Bruin’s T-shirt, beginning the show with “Double Trouble”, a funky rocker from their latest album, “Gimme Back My Bullets”. Their big break materialized in 1974 when they were asked to tour with The Who. By mid-1973, their hard driving style had developed and had already landed them a recording contract. Their name came from their mockery of a gym teacher, Leonard Skinner, who repeatedly had three of Skynyrd’s members expelled from high school for having long hair. Lynyrd Skynyrd began as a boisterous bar band in Jacksonville, Florida.

Very tasteful harmonizing guitar solo’s were augmented by an additional guitarist, a bassist, and a drummer, who provided a solid foundation in all their numbers on which the guitarists built. The Outlaws gave an electrifying opening performance to an overwhelmingly enthusiastic audience, frequently spotlighting the talents of their two lead guitarists, Billy Jones and Hughie Thomasson.

Lynyrd skynyrd jones